Desist from supporting quacks, Surveyor council tells members
NAN-H-54
Quacks
Uche Bibilari/Bukola Adewumi
Abuja, Feb. 17, 2017 (NAN) The Registrar, Surveyor Council of Nigeria (SUCON), Mr Suleiman Hassan, has called on registered surveyors to desist from appending their signatures on works done by quacks.
Hassan made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Abuja.
He explained that quacks could only thrive when they have the backing of registered surveyors, adding that quacks could not do a survey work and put his signature as that would be considered illegal.
“If any quack does a survey and it bears a signature and a stamp or a seal of a registered surveyor then it is the registered surveyor who is the quack.
“Until someone comes out to report we cannot do anything to him, but when somebody identifies that somebody has practice unethically we have a process of punishing the offender,’’ he said.
He said that the council had put some measures in place to deal with quacks in the sector, adding that offenders would be punished depending on the gravity of the offence.
He said the council had ‘Surveyor Investigative Panel (SIP)’ whose duty is to interrogate and investigate anybody reported to have practice unethically.
According to Hassan, in every state of the Federation, the council has what is called: ‘SUCON’, State Committee on Ethics (SSCE) whose duty is to monitor the conduct and practice of members.
“We send offenders to the SSCE in the state for investigation, and if they have an idea of what happened, they are expected to send their findings to us for action.
“We will invite the person with the letter telling him that he has been alleged to have committed the listed offence.
“Then, he comes with his defense, and then the SIP will now take him up and investigate him thoroughly to find out whether he is culpable or not before they pass their findings to us’’.
The registrar said that the sanctions given to offender ranges from removing the person’s name from the register, which was the toughest to other sanctions.
“Depending on the gravity of the offence there are penalties in our laws.
“The toughest of the penalty is for your name to be removed from the register that means you have lost your registration and you can no longer be called a surveyor.
“But offenders can be sanctioned or be asked to pay fine, he can also be jailed or both can happen,
“However, the beauty of ours is that there are instance; if you are not satisfied with the punishment you can appeal your sanction even to the court,’’ he said.
The registrar said that the council being a regulatory body publishes the names of eligible members of surveyors once in a year.
He called on Nigerians to stop patronising quacks, adding that they could `cause more harm than good’ which could led to loss of lives and property. (NAN)
BOL/UU/AFA
Edited by Felix Ajide